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Defeat of 9/11 Bill Makes Deadline for Workers Loom Larger
"While we hope the Zadroga bill will be re-introduced and passed quickly, its defeat makes it more important that 9/11 workers and volunteers register for workers' ompensation," said Joel Shufro, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. "Only by registering now will they be eligible for compensation and medical treatment if they become ill down the road from their exposures at the World Trade Center."
Learn more at the NYCOSH website or call the 24-hour hotline 1-866-WTC-2556.
State Guidelines and Forms
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The failure of the House of Representatives to pass the bill for medical treatment of 9/11 victims makes an upcoming deadline for registering for workers' compensation more critical.
All who worked or volunteered in the vicinity of Ground Zero in the 9/11 aftermath face the deadline of Sept. 11, 2010, to register for future workers' compensation benefits in case they later develop an illness tied to that work.
The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 which would have helped to cover the medical costs and lost wages of workers who become ill from exposures at the trade center was defeated in a floor vote and so the deadline for registering for workers' compensation is fast approaching. It is estimated that up to 100,000 workers and volunteers who performed 9/11 rescue, recovery or cleanup work are eligible to sign up with the state Workers' Compensation Board. As of early July, 40,633 had done so.
More than 20,000 have developed serious health problems from exposure to toxic dust or fumes at the site or mental disorders caused by psychological trauma associated with their work. The most common illnesses linked to World Trade Center exposures include diseases of the upper respiratory system. Symptoms from exposures can take years to show. Even now, nearly nine years after the attacks, approximately 200 workers and volunteers enroll each month in World Trade Center monitoring and treatment programs, reporting the onset of symptoms. Altogether, about 45,000 have enrolled in such monitoring programs.
Any eligible person who registers by the Sept. 11, 2010, deadline will have the right to file a 9/11-related workers' compensation at any time in the future, no matter when 9/11-related symptoms began to occur. If a worker is or becomes ill and the claim is established, workers' compensation will fully cover the cost of treatment, including prescriptions and hospitalization.
Those eligible to register include most people who performed any rescue, recovery or cleanup work, no matter how briefly, paid or unpaid, in lower Manhattan south of Canal or Pike Streets between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 12, 2002. It also includes those who worked at the Staten Island landfill, the barge operation between Manhattan and Staten Island or the New York City morgue (or any of the temporary morgues set up during that period).
There is no residency or citizenship requirement to register for 9/11-related compensation. If workers or volunteers meet other eligibility criteria, it does not matter whether they live in New York State. Their immigration status-whether documented or not-also does not affect their
eligibility.
For more about eligibility requirements and the registration procedure, workers and volunteers may go to the NYCOSH website or call the toll-free, 24-hour hotline, 1-866-WTC-2556. State guidelines and forms are here.
Page created on 8.4.10
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